Various approaches to securing items such as firearms, tools, sporting gear and others have been challenging to implement for a variety of applications. For instance, in various military and sporting applications, such items are desirably secured in vehicles or in temporary locations having varied and often unpredictable characteristics. With regard to vehicles, motion can be challenging to address with regard to securing items, particularly over rough terrain or water travel, and in military applications subject to conditions such as projectile impact and explosions.
Securing objects such as firearms can be particularly challenging. For example, long guns have extended lengths and are designed to be fired while braced against the shoulder. This feature along with the longer barrel and easier stabilization can increase accuracy for a shooter. The additional length, however, can make long guns difficult to carry and store. For instance, long guns can be particularly problematic when performing work in tight quarters, such as military personnel performing day-to-day activities on a naval vessel, in vehicles, aboard aircraft or even in the field. Improper storage can result in the weapons falling to the ground, striking other objects or even banging into other weapons. This can cause bent barrels, broken sights and instability of the optics, which can render the weapon unusable, inaccurate, and even unsafe. Moreover, a fallen weapon can be more difficult to retrieve, which may slow down a soldier when time may be of critical importance.
Permanently affixed storage weapon lockers and weapon racks offer adequate solutions for storing long guns. While such solutions can be useful, they require time and effort to install, and possibly prior knowledge of appropriate and effective storage locations. This is often less than ideal. For instance, soldiers may find the need to set down their weapons in unanticipated locations. Moreover, permanent solutions in multiple locations can be costly, take up valuable space and add unnecessary weight when placed on the vessels.
Soldiers also have a need to sight-in their weapons periodically. Resting the weapon barrel on a stable object can facilitate this action; however, a hard surface can damage the barrel. Accordingly, it can be difficult to find a suitable location and setup for sighting in the weapon.
For tools and sporting items such as fishing rods, securing items can also be safely and securely store tools or sporting goods in environments subject to shaking or jarring, such as on an all-terrain vehicle navigating difficult terrain, or in a boat navigating rough waters. Further, storing such items can be challenging and/or expensive to implement. In addition, various approaches to storing items have been inflexible in nature, expensive and generally inflexible in application.
For military applications, improperly secured items can also present danger when subjected to adverse environments. For instance, while maintaining weapons or tools in a readily-accessible manner is important, such items can become projectiles/shrapnel upon impact of a vehicle or weapon, or explosion.
These and other matters have presented challenges to securing, storing and using items such as weapons, tools and sporting goods, among others, for a variety of applications.